Raider Nation News

Week of September 24, 2018

Raider Nation News

Week of September 24, 2018

The Gift of Failure

Dear Atholton Families,

Believe it or not, we are entering our first five day week! I am certain this will be an adjustment for our students and staff – Lol!

This year, from time to time, I’d like to share with you books or articles that I feel would be a good read. Of course, they will usually pertain to education or navigating teen years. The selection this week focuses on failure and how our students should be allowed to experience it. I hope you find this information useful.

The Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey

Synopsis – Modern parenting is defined by an unprecedented level of overprotectiveness: parents who rush to school at the whim of a phone call to deliver forgotten assignments, who challenge teachers on report card disappointments, mastermind children’s friendships, and interfere on the playing field. As teacher and writer Jessica Lahey explains, even though these parents see themselves as being highly responsive to their children’s well-being, they aren’t giving them the chance to experience failure—or the opportunity to learn to solve their own problems. Overparenting has the potential to ruin a student’s confidence and undermine their education, Lahey reminds us. Teachers don’t just teach reading, writing, and arithmetic. They teach responsibility, organization, manners, restraint, and foresight—important life skills students carry with them long after they leave the classroom.

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend.

Warmly,

Robert A. Motley

Principal

Important Information

Emergency Contact Information

We are still seeking updated emergency contact information from families. This information is crucial in the event of an emergency or a need to contact a parent.

Please be sure to log on to update your emergency contact information ASAP! Even if nothing has changed, you must still log on to indicate that there are no changes.

School Picture Day

Lifetouch photographers will be here on October 1st and 2nd to photograph 9th, 10th and 11th grade students (underclassmen). The pictures will be used for individual student ID cards and in our 2018-2019 Atholton High Yearbook.

Students were given a flyer with an attached envelope and order form in their English class. You may complete the order form and enclose payment (cash, money order or check payable to Lifetouch) or you may order at mylifetouch.com using our unique Picture Day ID: MJ018021Q0 and pay by credit card or paypal.

Raider Nation KUDOS

Please join me in congratulating students and staff for their accomplishments:

1. Liza Goldberg -- please read the article that was released on Google Earth Engine blogs. Click here. Liza and her NASA mentor, David Lagomasino hope to publish their research in Nature Magazine. We wish them all the best.

2. Rahel Petros was featured on the cover of Her Mind Magazine and her work on inclusiveness throughout Howard County. Click here and then click on Latest Issue (Fall 2018).

3. An email went out last week congratulating our three National Merit Semifinalists: